Inspired by the legendary McLaren F1 GTR ‘Longtail’ race car, the 675LT Coupé is the lightest, fastest, most powerful and most track-focused Super Series model to date. The McLaren F1 GTR ‘Longtail’ was famous for, and easy to spot by, its hugely extended rear bodywork. But that was far from the whole story. A raft of mechanical and aerodynamic changes resulted in an F1 GTR that was lighter, stronger and more focused than even the legendary 1995 Le Mans winner. It’s this spirit that is channelled with the new 675LT, the most track-focused, yet road legal, McLaren series production model to date. At the front, the 675LT sits 20mm lower to the tarmac and there are new winglets at either side of a significantly more aggressive nose and splitter to direct air into the rear radiators. The track, both front and rear, is 20mm wider, and the entire rear bodywork is unique to the 675LT, with twin circular tailpipes housed in a mesh rear fascia sandwiched between a new full-width ‘Longtail’ spoiler and enlarged rear diffuser.
The aerodynamic changes aren’t simple design tweaks, but help improve downforce by a massive 40 percent. Half of the components that make up the 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 engine are new, and the engineers at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England, have managed to cut 100kg from the kerb weight. The 675LT said to be rapidly fast, demanding the next of the SSG seven-speed dual-clutch transmission’s ratios almost as soon as the existing one has engaged. To 62mph (100km/h), the 675LT posts a 2.9 second time, a tenth quicker than the 650S. But stretch the criteria to 124mph (200km/h), which takes the new-generation ‘Longtail’ 7.9 seconds, and it pulls out a significant 0.5 second lead.
The 100kg diet plays an important part in that trick, the new M383TL engine, another, and together they imbue the 675LT with the best power-to-weight ratio of any car in the class. Based on the 3.8-litre twin turbo engine that powers the 650S, but with 50 per cent new components, the V8 now produces an additional 25PS for a 675PS (666bhp) total, while torque climbs to 700Nm (516lb ft). But beyond simply the numbers, the entire character of the engine has changed. Enhanced with lightweight internals to maximise response, its picks up and sheds revs seemingly instantly at the merest brush of throttle. Only 500 owners will experience that because the McLaren 675LT borrows one more trait from the original McLaren F1 GTR ‘Longtail’: exclusivity.
